It's your business

Even though David Gagnon has owned
Allura Printing in Costa Mesa for six years and grew up in a family business in Quebec, he jumped at the chance to learn how to expand his company.

The local Small Business Administration office invited Gagnon to participate in an initiative to help established businesses go to the next level. The goal: Create new jobs and boost local economies.

“It was quite a commitment,” Gagnon said of the seven-month Emerging Leaders Initiative that required him and 11 fellow entrepreneurs to drive from Orange County and Los Angeles to Corona for biweekly classes.

They worked on their businesses in small peer groups and prepared three-year strategic plans for business growth. Allura's plan maps out a strategy to quadruple revenues and add to the staff of six, Gagnon said.

The SBA says the Emerging Leaders Initiative is the agency's only federal training effort focused specifically on executives of businesses that have been operating at least three years and have revenues above $300,000. Other academic, private and economic-development organizations offer growth training for established business owners but sometimes charge thousands of dollars. Emerging Leaders is free, although enrollment is extremely limited.

The SBA has run the classes in 27 cities; the Santa Ana district office participated for three years; this year Los Angeles and Fresno will offer classes.

“This is an amazing curriculum,” said SBA district Director Adalberto Quijada. “The greatest challenge is getting owners to understand the value of working on their business, not just in their business.”

He said his staff recruited the entrepreneurs from the SBA's database; after the business owners finish the training, his team will match them with other programs such as SCORE's CEO forums, which are small groups of owners of established firms.

But the SBA isn't the only partner for the training developed by Interise. The Boston nonprofit calls the program the Streetwise MBA and licenses it to cities, business groups and others that want to boost local jobs and economies. Partners include New York City, the University of Pittsburgh and the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“The course was designed to understand companies entering their second stage of growth,” said Interise CEO Jean Horstman. “We didn't build a big organization; we licensed its use to partners ... because people will build their own programs better than they will build yours.”

From 2008 through 2011, 73 percent of participating businesses added jobs with an average starting salary of $41,865, and 64 percent increased their revenues, Interise said.

“This initiative pays for itself,” Horstman said. “The government received $3.50 in tax revenues for every $1 in our contract.”

Gagnon said the training really helped his printing company, which was hard-hit by the recession.

“We lost two top customers that went bankrupt,” he said. “My brother, who is my partner, and I have supportive wives. We worked harder and had to cut some employees. But in the last year we doubled our space and bought equipment. Now we want to add production people and sales people.”

Allura's three-year growth plan includes increasing its book-printing business and commercial printing, as well as seeking government contracts, which was one module of the Emerging Leaders training.

“I had no idea what to do. The class pushed me to pursue that further,” Gagnon said.

Another Emerging Leaders graduate, Rachel Ramirez, president of Performance Excellence Partners in Huntington Beach, has even more ambitious goals than Allura's. Her three-year plan is to grow staffing to 45 employees from 30 and boost revenues to $220 million from $8 million.

“It is very ambitious, but I have identified the contracts we can get to reach my goals,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez started her management-consulting firm in 1999 after working for the city of Long Beach in workforce development and earning her MBA degree at Cal State Long Beach.

Through the Emerging Leaders program, Ramirez said, “Two major things happened. I got more knowledgeable about the technical aspects of running a business – the most valuable was understanding financials and accounting – and it reinforced the value of getting a business coach. I had been really lonely as an owner, and in class I was able to talk with other owners.”

The curriculum covers every aspect of business ownership, said Marty Shea, owner of K2Business Coaching in Temecula. Interise recruited him to teach the local classes.

Interise looks for people who have both business ownership and coaching experience. Shea owned a food company before becoming an executive coach.

“I wish I had this training when I owned a business,” he said. The program begins with leadership and goal setting, covers strategies, financing, sales and marketing, managing human and financial resources and government contracts.

“I tell participants when they walk into the first class, ‘This won't work if you don't apply what you learn to your business.' I hold them accountable for what they say they're going to do. We focus on executing the (three-year) plan, not just hiding it in a drawer somewhere.”

Both Gagnon and Ramirez noted a value of the training beyond the actual class work.

“You bond with others in the class,” Ramirez said. “This program helped me make connections and learn about other businesses.”

Gagnon added, “I was the only printer (in the class). There was a clothing line, an electrician, tire company, used bridal dresses, security, (but) we learned from each other how to overcome challenges.”

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.